When to Plant Poppies in Golden, CO

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to determine when it's possible to plant poppies by using the USDA zone info for Golden.


Planting Calendar for Poppies

Frost tolerance for poppies: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since poppies are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant poppies
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant poppies
Probably not a good time to plant poppies

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Golden is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant poppies and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your poppies may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your poppies indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Golden. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Golden is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Golden you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your poppies in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Golden

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Golden

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Golden.